First we heard of the Diablo Cody-produced Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament, the book that the script was being adapted from hadn’t even been released yet. Now it has, and people seem to be digging it. Meanwhile, on the film front, the script is ready to go, and directors are taking a look. The leads of the film may already be set though, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson loosely attached to star. That could change when it finds a director, but for now, it’s a fun pairing to consider.

Learn more about the film after the break.

Pajiba has the news, and they emphasize the “loose” attachment of the actors. The script is written by Geoff Latulippe, who’s screenplay for Going the Distance (out in theaters this week) placed high on the Hollywood Black List in 2008.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt would play Andy, a man who dies, finds himself re-animated as a zombie, and is forced to endure the hardships and prejudices of a society that denies him his basic rights. So it’s like District 9, but with zombies. And it’s a romantic comedy. So, District 9 meets Shaun of the Dead.

Meet Andy Warner, a recently deceased everyman and newly minted zombie. Resented by his parents, abandoned by his friends, and reviled by a society that no longer considers him human, Andy is having a bit of trouble adjusting to his new existence. But all that changes when he goes to an Undead Anonymous meeting and finds kindred souls in Rita, an impossibly sexy recent suicide with a taste for the formaldehyde in cosmetic products, and Jerry, a twenty-one-year-old car crash victim with an exposed brain and a penchant for Renaissance pornography. When the group meets a rogue zombie who teaches them the joys of human flesh, things start to get messy, and Andy embarks on a journey of self-discovery that will take him from his casket, to the SPCA, to a media-driven class-action lawsuit on behalf of the rights of zombies everywhere.

OK, so it’s District 9 meets Shaun of the Dead meets Wristcutters: A Love Story meets Fight Club. I’m sold.

Scarlett Johansson in this scenario would, I presume, play Rita, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character’s love interest. That’s an exciting coupling, especially when you consider that these two incredibly attractive movie stars would be playing decaying corpses. That should make for an interesting sex scene or two, to say the least.